Department for Transport

Cycling and Walking: Finance

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding has been allocated to City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements for active travel in each of the financial years from 2020-21 to 2024-25.

Jesse Norman: Through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) programme the Government has agreed five-year local transport funding settlements for seven eligible city regions from April 2022. CRSTS funding is supporting improvements across a range of transport modes, but based on the plans put forward by Mayors the Government expect at least £700m to be allocated to active travel infrastructure over the period 2022-25.

Road Traffic Offences: Fixed Penalties

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing stronger penalties for people who do not obey road safety rules.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department keeps the law under review and listens to the concerns of those affected by tragic cases of death or serious injury.

Transport: Carbon Emissions

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support local authorities' delivery of the Transport decarbonisation plan.

Jesse Norman: The Department is supporting local authorities to decarbonise with funding and tools, helping them to build their capacity and capability. Key programmes include the £5.7 billion City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements and the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund, which supports local delivery of transport decarbonisation alongside other government objectives. The Government has also established Active Travel England to help local authorities deliver high quality walking and cycling schemes and last month announced an additional £56 million of public and industry funding to support the rollout of local electric vehicle chargepoints across the country. The Government will shortly be consulting on new Local Transport Plan (LTP) guidance that will support better and more integrated strategic planning and provide new guidance to authorities in quantifying the carbon impact of their plans. This is in addition to work underway to update its Local Authority Transport Decarbonisation Toolkit on a range of interventions.

Department for Transport: Minimum Wage

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has contracted work to a business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme in the last 3 years.

Jesse Norman: A search of the DfTc supplier database has found no record of DfTc having any contracts in the last three years with any business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme.

Aviation: Colour Vision Deficiency

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to collate data on aircraft accidents in commercial operations in which colour vision was a significant factor over the past twenty years.

Jesse Norman: The Department policy on colour vision is derived from a range of evidence, including but not limited to accident data. This is used to set requirements based on the fact that the perception of colour cues in the external environment is key to safe performance of flight duties. The Department believes there would be little benefit to conducting such an exercise, as knowledge gained from air accident investigations is already reflected in UK policy.

Ministry of Defence

Agnes Wanjiru

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, why no British soldiers suspected of murdering Agnes Wanjiru in March 2012 have been extradited to Kenya?

James Heappey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the former Minister for Defence People and Veterans (Leo Docherty) to the hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey) on 5 January 2022 to Question 92810 which remains extant.Agnes Wanjiru (docx, 16.5KB)

Kenya: Military Alliances

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long the temporary extension to the 2016 Defence Cooperation Agreement between the UK and Kenya will remain in place following the expiration of that agreement in October 2021.

James Heappey: Through an exchange of notes in September 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya and the British High Commission Nairobi agreed to extend the application of the existing Agreement beyond 6 October 2021, until such time as both parties notify each other in writing of the coming into force of the new Agreement, in accordance with the Parties' respective laws. The Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) signed in 2015 therefore is extant and will remain in place until the new DCA is ratified and formally brought into force.

Challenger Tanks

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has allocated funding for the integration of an active protection system into Challenger 3 main battle tanks.

Alex Chalk: The Ministry of Defence has allocated sufficient funding for the integration of an Active Protection System onto the Challenger 3 Main Battle Tank.

Type 32 Frigates: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence,  pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2023 to Question 150412 on Type 32 Frigates: Procurement, how much concept funding has been allocated to Type 32 as a programme.

Alex Chalk: The Shipbuilding pipeline holds funding at a portfolio level for projects announced in the National Shipbuilding Strategy. As projects mature funding allocations are made from the pipeline budget against these projects. The Type 32 programme has not yet reached the level of maturity for full budget allocation and concept funding has been spent thus far, estimated at approximately £4 million to date. This is consistent with a programme of this size and complexity at this stage in its development.

Fleet Solid Support Ships: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of the jobs that will be (a) created (b) sustained in the supply chain in (i) the UK and (ii) Spain by his Department's contract with Team Resolute for three Fleet Solid Support ships.

Alex Chalk: It is expected that around 800 jobs will be sustained in the UK supply-chain for equipment, design and support services. The number of new jobs created will depend on the capacity of the UK supply chain to fulfil the orders that arise. The number of supply-chain jobs created or sustained in Spain to deliver the Fleet Solid Support ships is a matter for the contractor concerned.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2023 to Question 146794 on Armed Forces: Housing, how many professional survey reports have been received following damp and mould investigations in Service Family Accommodation since April 2022.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February to Question 146794 on Armed Forces: Housing, how many professional survey reports have been received following damp and mould investigations in Service Family Accommodation in each year since 2015.

Alex Chalk: The information requested prior to April 2022 is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.Since April 2022, the Ministry of Defence has received a total of 538 professional survey reports following damp and mould investigations in Service Family Accomodation.

Ammunition: Production

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase production of 155mm ammunition in the UK.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many meetings he has had with industry representatives on the need to increase UK production of 155mm ammunition following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Alex Chalk: Defence continually manages and analyses its stocks of weapons and munitions against commitments and threats, whilst also reviewing industrial capacity and supply chains, both domestically and internationally. The Ministry of Defence remains fully engaged with industry and this has included recent discussions regarding the production of 155mm ammunition in the UK and potential opportunities to increase production.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Aviation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will publish the (a) number and (b) destinations of all domestic flights taken by officials in his Department in each of the last five years.

Mr Alister Jack: The number and destination of all domestic flights taken by officials in the Scotland Office over the last five years is shown below. Financial YearNumber of FlightsList of Destinations2017-18924Aberdeen, Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Islay, Kirkwall, Lerwick, London, Stornoway, Shetland Isles and Southampton.2018-19919Aberdeen, Alderney, Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Guernsey, Inverness, Islay, Manchester, London, Stornoway, Shetland Isles and Wick.2019-20682Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, London, and Manchester.2020-2197Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Kirkwall, London, Shetland Isles and Stornoway.2021-22244Aberdeen, Birmingham, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Kirkwall, London, Shetland Isles and Stornoway.

Attorney General

Poaching: Prosecutions

Sarah Jones: To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions have been made under the Night Poaching Act 1828 in each year since 2010.

Michael Tomlinson: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold any data which shows the number of defendants charged with and prosecuted for offences created by the Night Poaching Act 1828. However, management information is held showing the number of offences of charged by way of the Night Poaching Act 1828 in which a prosecution commenced from each year from 2010/11. The table below shows the number of these offences to the latest available year, 2021/22. 2010-20112011-20122012-20132013-20142014-20152015-20162016-20172017-20182018-20192019-20202020-20212021-2022Night Poaching Act 1828495674587564461722142128Data Source: CPS Case Management Information SystemThe figures relate to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants and it can be the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence.

Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Software

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total cost of developing and updating the (a) Better Health Rewards, (b) NHS Weight Loss Plan, (c) NHS Active 10 Walking Tracker,  (d) NHS Food Scanner, (e) NHS Couch to 5k, apps has been to date; and if he will provide a breakdown of costs for each those apps.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Bereavement Counselling: Ealing Central and Acton

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the provision of bereavement support in Ealing Central and Acton constituency for parents and families following baby loss.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hospices: Cost of Living

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the financial impact of the cost of living crisis on hospices.

Helen Whately: As palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), any assessment of further financial support should be made at a local level.At a national level, NHS England have released £1.5 billion additional funding to ICBs to provide support for inflation, with ICBs deciding how best to distribute this funding within their system, including to palliative and end of life care providers such as hospices. This is in addition to the support provided by the Government through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme.

Cancer: Health Services

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government’s Major Conditions Strategy will incorporate all the commitments made in the 10-year Cancer Plan.

Helen Whately: The Major Conditions Strategy will include cancer, covering the patient pathway from prevention, through treatment, to follow-up care. The strategy will look at a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes and experience for cancer patients.This strategy will draw on previous work on cancer, including over 5,000 submissions provided to the Department as part of our Call for Evidence last year.  We will continue to work closely with stakeholders, citizens, and the National Health Service in the coming weeks to identify actions for the strategy that will have the most impact.

Cancer: Radiotherapy

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cancer patients received radiotherapy treatment within the 62-day referral to treatment target; and what steps he is taking to reduce wait times for cancer radiotherapy.

Helen Whately: The number of patients receiving radiotherapy treatment for cancer is reported in the 31 days waiting time standard from decision to treat to a subsequent treatment for cancer.From latest data available, the total number of cancer patients who received radiotherapy treatment in December 2022 was 8,054, of which 7,306 patients received treatment within the 31 days standard.The Department is taking steps to support the National Health Service deliver this standard and reduce waiting times for treatment, including for cancer radiotherapy treatments. To support elective recovery, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/2023 to 2024/2025, of which £2.3 billion will be used to expand diagnostics and £1.5 billion for treatment, with a focus on cancer treatment.

Vaccination

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to publish a vaccine strategy.

Maria Caulfield: Development of a vaccine strategy remains under review given the evolving understanding from the COVID-19 vaccination programme, the existing seasonal flu and the 12 national immunisation programmes.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle misinformation about mRNA vaccines.

Maria Caulfield: The Government takes the issue of vaccine misinformation extremely seriously. It is essential that people are able to access accurate information so they can make informed decisions about their health. The Department is working closely with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, media, social media and technology companies on innovative ways to tackle the proliferation of anti-vaccine messaging, limit misinformation, promote positive messages about vaccination and ensure that reputable sources such as NHS.UK are the most prominent. The Government uses extensive and targeted multi-channel communications, using trusted voices, and sharing accurate information about COVID-19 and vaccination, informed by clinical expertise and analysis from UKHSA.Vaccines give us the best possible protection against COVID-19 and undergo a rigorous safety evaluation by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. UKHSA works with stakeholders across Government to maintain awareness of misinformation narratives and promote clear and accurate public health messaging, including that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and have saved countless lives. The Government continues to liaise with international partners including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization to monitor misinformation and horizon scan for both mis- and disinformation that can form barriers to the uptake of public health measures in the United Kingdom, including COVID-19 vaccines.The Government is introducing the Online Safety Bill. For the first time, technology companies are going to be accountable to an independent regulator to keep their users, particularly children, safe. Under the new terms of service duties for Category 1 services, which allow users to post content online or to interact with each other and that have the largest audiences and a range of features which enable content and activity to reach large numbers of people, if certain types of mis- and disinformation including anti-vaccination falsehoods are prohibited in their terms of service, they will have to remove them.

Influenza: Vaccination

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of adequacy of the uptake of the influenza vaccine in winter 2022-23.

Maria Caulfield: In England from October to March monthly flu vaccine uptake data for general practitioner patients, school-aged children and frontline healthcare workers, are produced by UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and include the numbers vaccinated. The data is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figuresAll monthly data is provisional until the end of season report is published. Vaccination can take place any time between 1 September 2022 and 31 March 2023. Annual reports for each flu season are published after the end of the season, with last year’s report published in June 2022.Provisional monthly data for 2022 to 2023 shows that some of the momentum from the previous two years, where the highest flu vaccine uptake rates ever were achieved, was maintained initially but then tailed off. For those aged 65 years old and over, the World Health Organization target of 75% uptake has again been exceeded. For other cohorts, including pregnant women, healthcare workers, and two- and three-year-olds, uptake has been lower than the last two years.

Cancer Drugs Fund

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) increase awareness of and (b) improve access to the Cancer Drugs Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) appraises all newly licensed medicines and since 2016, has been able to recommend drugs for use within the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) where there is too much uncertainty to be able to recommend routine funding. For those drugs that receive this recommendation, the fund supports patient access while further real-world evidence is collected that informs a final recommendation by NICE on routine commissioning.The CDF has helped many thousands of National Health Service patients to benefit from promising new medicines that would otherwise not be available to them. As of February 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has made 52 CDF recommendations, 24 of which have had guidance updated following a period of managed access, with 92% recommended for routine funding.The Innovative Medicines Fund, launched in June 2022, builds on the successful Cancer Drugs Fund model and will support patient access to the most promising new medicines for all patients, not just those with cancer, faster than ever before.

Tumour Treating Fields Therapy: Brain Cancer

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing Optune on the NHS for the treatment of brain cancer; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Whately: In the guidelines on primary brain tumours and brain metastases in adults published in July 2018, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that tumour-treating fields, such as Optune, should not be offered as part of management of a newly diagnosed grade IV glioma or as part of management of recurrent high-grade glioma.These recommendations are based on an assessment of the available evidence on clinical and cost effectiveness.

Hospices: Energy

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) Energy Bill Relief Scheme and (b) Energy Bill Discount Scheme on the affordability of energy in the hospice sector.

Helen Whately: No assessment has been made.

Hospices: Energy

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to help support hospices that are unable to afford their energy bills.

Helen Whately: As palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs, any assessment of further financial support should be made at a local level.At a national level, NHS England have released £1.5 billion additional funding to ICBs to provide support for inflation, with ICBs deciding how best to distribute this funding including to palliative and end of life care providers such as hospices. This is in addition to the support provided by government through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme.

Income Support: Uprating

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase Minimum Income Guarantee in line with inflation.

Helen Whately: The 2023 Local Authority Circular, published on 9 February, sets out that the rates of the Minimum Income Guarantee will be uprated in line with consumer price index (CPI) inflation for the financial year 2023/2024. This uprating aligns with the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement announcement that benefits will be uprated in line with CPI inflation.

Social Security Benefits: Uprating

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has discussed uprating social care benefits in line with inflation with MENCAP in the last twelve months.

Helen Whately: There have been no specific discussions. The 2023 Local Authority Circular, published on 9 February, sets out that the rates of the Minimum Income Guarantee will be uprated in line with consumer price index inflation for the financial year 2023/2024.

Tobacco: Regulation

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2022 to Question 110663, when he expects the investigation to be completed; when his Department expects to publish the outcome of the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ independent analysis of 20 cigarette brands; and what steps his Department have taken to ensure compliance with legislation around menthol as a characterising flavour in cigarettes.

Neil O'Brien: The independent analysis phase of the investigation into the presence of menthol as a characterising flavour in 20 cigarette brands has now concluded. We will be sharing these findings soon with relevant manufacturers and anticipate that the anonymised findings will be published shortly thereafter.We expect industry to comply with regulation 15 of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. Where there is evidence of non-compliance the Department works with the relevant enforcement authorities to ensure that this is remedied.

Antimicrobials: Drug Resistance

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the World Health Organization publication entitled Tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) together: working paper 5.0: enhancing the focus on gender and equity, published in 2018, including on the upcoming five-year national action plan on antimicrobial resistance for 2024 to 2029.

Maria Caulfield: The Government is aware of the World Health Organization (WHO) paper ‘Tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) together: working paper 5.0: enhancing focus on gender and equity’.The Government is committed to tackling health inequalities associated with infection, prescribing and levels of antimicrobial resistance. This includes through NHS England’s Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Programme, which works to ensure that effective interventions and services are in place to support both men and women, accounting for differences in their risk levels and how they are impacted by infections that lead to the use of antibiotics.The UK Health Security Agency’s health inequalities workstream also aims to embed a systematic approach to reducing health inequalities by improving our understanding of AMR health inequalities, developing an engagement strategy, and producing recommendations for public health action.The Global Antimicrobial Resistance Innovation Fund, which invests in research and development that address AMR for the benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries, considers gender and equity within its portfolio.The United Kingdom’s next five-year national action plan on AMR, which will be informed by the latest evidence, including findings on health inequalities from the Call for Evidence on AMR which closed in January 2023; WHO publications, key reports, emerging research outputs, and feedback from stakeholders.

Influenza: Vaccination

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the take up of the influenza vaccine in winter 2022-23.

Maria Caulfield: In England from October to March monthly flu vaccine uptake data for general practitioner patients, school-aged children and frontline healthcare workers, are produced by UK Health Security Agency and include the numbers vaccinated. The data is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figuresAll monthly data is provisional until the end of season report is published. Vaccination can take place any time between 1 September 2022 and 31 March 2023. Annual reports for each flu season are published after the end of the season, with last year’s report published in June 2022.Provisional monthly data for 2022 to 2023 shows that some of the momentum from the previous two years, where the highest flu vaccine uptake rates ever were achieved, was maintained initially but then tailed off. For those aged 65 years old and over, the World Health Organization target of 75% uptake has again been exceeded. For other cohorts, including pregnant women, healthcare workers, and two- and three-year-olds, uptake has been lower than the last two years.

Influenza: Vaccination

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the uptake of the influenza vaccine in winter 2022-23.

Maria Caulfield: In England from October to March monthly flu vaccine uptake data for general practitioner patients, school-aged children and frontline healthcare workers, are produced by UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and include the numbers vaccinated. The data is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figuresAll monthly data is provisional until the end of season report is published. Vaccination can take place any time between 1 September 2022 and 31 March 2023. Annual reports for each flu season are published after the end of the season, with last year’s report published in June 2022.Provisional monthly data for 2022 to 2023 shows that some of the momentum from the previous two years, where the highest flu vaccine uptake rates ever were achieved, was maintained initially but then tailed off. For those aged 65 years old and over, the World Health Organization target of 75% uptake has again been exceeded. For other cohorts, including pregnant women, healthcare workers, and two- and three-year-olds, uptake has been lower than the last two years.

Menopause: Hormones

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the potential impact of testosterone levels in women on (a) normal metabolic functioning, (b) cognitive functioning, (c) mood, (d) bone and muscle strength, (e) urinary health and (f) reproductive health was considered by NICE when its guidance on Menopause: Diagnosis and Management was most recently revised; and whether NICE plans to take those factors into consideration for its next review of this guidance.

Maria Caulfield: In developing its guideline on the diagnosis and management of menopause, published in 2015, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) considered the effectiveness, including risks and benefits, of testosterone in the management and relief of menopause-related symptoms including vasomotor, musculoskeletal and psychological symptoms, as well as altered sexual function. The guideline recommends that testosterone supplementation should be considered for menopausal women with low sexual desire if hormone replacement therapy alone is not effective.NICE is currently updating its guideline on the diagnosis and management of menopause, which it expects to publish in February 2024. During its surveillance and scoping process, NICE did not identify any substantive new evidence on the use of testosterone beyond the existing recommendations. NICE discussed the need for evidence in this area with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) who have agreed to scope new research. The NIHR launched the research call in December 2022 and more information on is available at the following link:https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding/22170-testosterone-for-the-treatment-of-menopause-symptoms-beyond-altered-sexual-function/32031

Influenza: Vaccination

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many flu vaccinations his Department has procured for the 2023-24 children's flu vaccination programme; and whether the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has recommended a target figure for the (a) number and (b) proportion of children aged two to 17 receiving the vaccine.

Maria Caulfield: We are unable to provide the quantity of flu vaccinations as this is commercially sensitive.The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) secures sufficient volume of flu vaccines used in the children’s flu programme to ensure that eligible children aged less than 18 years old who present for vaccination can be offered an appropriate vaccine.

First Aid

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support the installation of public access trauma kits in publicly accessible locations across England.

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Manchester Arena Inquiry’s Emergency response report, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure Public Access Trauma kits are installed in publicly accessible locations.

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his policy to support the installation of public access trauma kits alongside automated external defibrillators to enhance community first aid resilience.

Maria Caulfield: The Department will consider the availability and access to Public Access Trauma Kits as on-going work across the health sector on the implementation of the recommendations from the Manchester Arena Inquiry.

UK Menopause Task Force

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the Menopause Taskforce has not met since before July 2022.

Maria Caulfield: Progress on the objectives of the Menopause Taskforce has continued outside of meetings.A menopause research prioritisation exercise was run by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), as recommended by the Menopause Taskforce. The prioritisation exercise closed on 24 January 2023 and NIHR hope to issue calls for research applications within the next six months. I will meet with Carolyn Harris MP shortly as the Taskforce co-chairs, to discuss next steps.

Cancer: Vaccination

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to provide cancer vaccines to patients through the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Whately: The Life Sciences Vision’s Healthcare Mission on Cancer will support the development of new immunological interventions for cancer. In partnership with Genomics England, NHS England is developing plans for a Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, which will help determine which cancer patients might be eligible for cancer vaccine trials. The Launch Pad will aim to support trials into vaccines across multiple types of cancer, with trials starting as early as autumn 2023.The Government is also working closely with the life sciences sector to bring innovative cancer therapies to National Health Service patients. In January, a partnership was announced with BioNTech which will accelerate clinical trials of personalised mRNA therapies, like cancer vaccines.

Department for Education

Schools: Closures

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2023 to Question 140337 on Schools: Closures, in which region of England are the 39 schools that have closed because one or more school buildings were deemed unsafe.

Nick Gibb: Responsibility for ensuring the safety and condition of school buildings lies with the responsible bodies, such as Local Authorities, trusts and voluntary aided bodies.Responsible bodies are not obliged to report building-related school closures to the Department.When the Department becomes aware or made aware of a school building that poses a risk to life, immediate action is taken to ensure safety and remediate the situation.Schools that closed between December 2019 and January 2023 can be found across all nine regions and were on average closed for two days. The Department works closely with responsible bodies and schools to minimise the impact of closures and ensure continuity of education for pupils.

Department for Education: Minimum Wage

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has contracted work to a business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme in the last 3 years.

Nick Gibb: The Department contracted with two businesses that were named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme, one in each of the past two years. Details of Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.

Schools: Buildings

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any school buildings are not in use as a result of being assessed as posing a risk to life.

Nick Gibb: Responsibility for ensuring the safety and condition of school buildings lies with the responsible bodies, such as Local Authorities, trusts and voluntary aided bodies. When the Department becomes aware or made aware of a school building that poses a risk to life, immediate action is taken to ensure safety and remediate the situation. As a result of contact from schools or responsible bodies, the Department knows of 14 schools that have buildings or blocks that are currently out of use.

Education: East Midlands

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve education outcomes in the east Midlands.

Nick Gibb: The Schools White Paper, published in March 2022, set out a long-term vision for a school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential by ensuring that they receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time, founded on achieving world-class literacy and numeracy. The Department’s ambition remains that by 2030, 90% of all primary school children will achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, and the percentage of children meeting the expected standard in the worst performing areas will have increased by a third. In secondary schools, the national GCSE average grade in both English language and in mathematics will increase from 4.5 in 2019 to 5.The White Paper was clear regarding the areas the Department needs to drive improvement in to realise this ambition, to ensure an excellent teacher for every child, high standards of curriculum, behaviour and attendance, targeted support for every child who needs it, and a stronger and fairer schools system.Significant support is also being provided for 55 Education Investment Areas (EIAs), to improve outcomes in those parts of the country where literacy and numeracy are the poorest including, six Local Authorities in the East Midlands region. These are Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, North Northamptonshire, and Lincolnshire.Over the next three years, up to £86 million in trust capacity funding and £150 million for extending the Connect the Classroom programme are being prioritised in EIAs. The Department is also offering higher payments of Levelling Up Premium tax-free annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers working in EIAs.Nottingham and Derby are Priority Education Investment Areas, 24 areas across the country with the highest rates of disadvantage where the Department is providing significant additional investment, including a share of around £40 million to address local needs and improve outcomes.

Department for Education: Aviation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education,  if she will publish the (a) number and (b) destinations of all domestic flights taken by officials in her Department in each of the last 5 years.

Nick Gibb: The Department makes quarterly transparency publications which includes the number of domestic flights and destinations. These can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-business-expenses-and-hospitality-for-senior-officials.

Free School Meals: Nottingham South

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students who received free school meals in secondary education in Nottingham South constituency are registered for higher education in each of the last three years.

Robert Halfon: The department publishes statistics on 15-year-old pupils from state-funded and special schools who entered higher education (HE) by age 19 at national and local authority level.The number of 15-year-old pupils receiving free school meals in Nottingham local authority who entered higher education (HE) by age 19 are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/90df849f-44f4-49eb-9506-08db08498a11.Figures are not available at parliamentary constituency level.

Pupils: Migraines

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department issues to schools on supporting children who suffer with migraines.

Claire Coutinho: The government is committed to ensuring pupils with medical conditions are properly supported at school, so that they have full access to education.In 2014, the government introduced a new duty on schools to support pupils with all medical conditions. The department has published statutory guidance on this, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.The guidance does not specify which medical conditions should be supported in schools. Instead, it focuses on how to meet the needs of each individual child and how their medical condition impacts on school life.

Secure Accommodation and Secure Schools

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to publish an impact assessment on the (a) rolling out and (b) practices of secure (i) schools and (ii) children's homes in England and Wales.

Claire Coutinho: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is responsible for Secure Schools policy and will commission a feasibility study in 2023/24. This feasibility study will inform process and impact evaluations, as well as longer term work on reducing reoffending and on a potential second secure school. MoJ expects the evaluation strategy to be in place at least six months before the first Secure School opening. MoJ will publish the impact evaluation, though a date for publication is not known at present.The Department for Education has policy responsibility for secure children’s homes. The responsibility for ensuring a looked after child or young person is placed in the appropriate care setting lies with local authorities as they are best placed to understand the specific needs of individual children in their care. The department does not monitor the practice of secure children’s homes, which are regulated by Ofsted, who inspect them twice each year. Inspection reports outline how well the secure children’s home meets the needs of the children living there. Ofsted can take enforcement action when they are not meeting the regulations, including the quality standards.The government is supporting local authorities to meet their statutory duty to ensure that there is sufficient provision for children they look after through a £259 million capital investment programme in the secure and open children’s homes estate, creating approximately 400 new placements. The department will monitor how well the capital investment programme delivers against its objectives.

Special Educational Needs: North Yorkshire

Nigel Adams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with North Yorkshire County Council in 2018 on plans for a new special educational needs and disability school.

Nick Gibb: North Yorkshire County Council submitted its application for a special school in 2018. The application was approved with conditions in March 2019. The Department has appointed a full project delivery team that works closely with the Council to deliver the project. I am aware of recent correspondence from my right hon. Friend, the Member for Selby and Ainsty, and a response will be issued shortly.

Special Educational Needs: Staff

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff were employed to support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in each year since 2010; and how much funding her Department provided for these staff in the same period.

Claire Coutinho: The department is committed to ensuring that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can reach their potential and receive excellent support from their teachers.Alongside excellent teachers, teaching assistants play an important role supporting pupils with SEND to fulfil their potential in mainstream and special schools.Information on the school workforce in England is collected as part of the annual School Workforce Census each November. Information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.Financial information on local authority and school expenditure, including staff costs, is published in the annual official statistic ‘LA and school expenditure.’ This can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure. The latest figures available are for the 2021/22 financial year, in which £11.7 billion was spent on teaching staff and £4.4 billion on education support staff.Within that publication, information can be found on high needs place funding from both the individual schools budget and high needs funding from the local authority budget. High needs funding is specifically for supporting children with more complex SEND. In the 2021/22 financial year there was £1.1 billion of high needs place funding within the individual schools budget, plus £6.6 billion on high needs expenditure outside the individual schools budget.

Department for Education: Disability

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps they have taken in their Department to operate the Disability Confident employer scheme for those seeking a lateral transfer; and how many and what proportion of candidates who declared themselves as having a disability and who applied under that scheme where (a) interviewed and (b) laterally transferred in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.

Nick Gibb: The Department is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) leader, achieved through participating in a range of actions to support staff who have disabilities. This includes programmes to help support career progression, such as ‘Beyond Boundaries’, a cross-Government development programme ‘Power of Choice’, an internal development programme, and actions specific to recruitment, such as guidance to ensure the language in job adverts avoids creating extra barriers and automatic interviews for those who reach the minimum pass mark at sift.Data on the number of internal candidates who have declared a disability and progressed in a recruitment round is below. 20212022Number of internal applicants who applied under DCS on lateral transfer and who were invited to interview41 (44%)66 (51%)Number of internal applicants who applied under DCS on lateral transfer and who were successful12 (30%)22 (33%)

Free School Meals

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the criteria for pupils to receive free school (a) lunches, (b) breakfasts and (c) other meals.

Nick Gibb: Approximately 1.9 million pupils are claiming free school meals (FSM). This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 20.8% in 2021. Together with a further 1.25 million infants supported through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, over one third of school pupils are now provided with FSM. The latest published statistics from the Department are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.The Department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables children in low income households to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one. The Department does not have plans to change the current eligibility conditions for FSM but will continue to keep eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. The Department continues to monitor the consequences of the rising cost of living and is working with other Government Departments to provide support to disadvantaged families.The Government is committed to continuing support for school breakfasts. In November 2022 the National School Breakfast Programme was extended for an additional year, until the end of the 2024 summer term. The Department is providing up to £30 million for this programme. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of pupils from low income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment and wellbeing. Schools are eligible for the programme if they have 40% or more pupils from disadvantaged households, as measured by the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index.

Pupils: Absenteeism

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools use Code T: Gypsy, Roma Traveller absence in line with guidance from her Department on school attendance.

Nick Gibb: The contents of the school attendance register are governed by the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 as amended.Schools are required to take the attendance register at the start of each morning session and once during each afternoon session. On each occasion, they must record whether every pupil is present, absent, attending an approved educational activity, or unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances.The national attendance and absence codes enable schools to record and monitor attendance and absence in a consistent way and are used to collect statistics. The data helps schools, Local Authorities and the Government gain a greater understanding of the level of, and the reason for, absence and the delivery of education.Schools are responsible for deciding which code they apply, and that it complies with the Regulations in the specific circumstances. This includes code T, which is used when the pupil’s parent is travelling for occupational purposes and the school, following a request from the parent, has granted the pupil a leave of absence. The Department’s guidance for schools and Local Authorities, ‘Working together to improve attendance’, provides advice on the national codes.

Initial Teacher Training Market Review

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has his Department has made of the impact of its Initial Teacher Training Market Review on its teacher recruitment targets.

Nick Gibb: Initial Teacher Training (ITT) recruitment targets are calculated using analysis from the Teacher Workforce Model (TWM). The TWM uses different sources to calculate these targets, including data regarding the composition of the teacher workforce and curriculum taught in secondary schools, returner and leaver rates, historic recruitment performance, economic data and forecasts, and the latest data and assumptions on future recruitment and retention of teachers. The TWM considers the cumulative effect of these factors when calculating ITT recruitment targets.In the 2019 Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, the Department committed to reviewing the ITT market, with the aim to make it work more effectively. Reforms to the ITT market will help all trainees across the country receive quality ITT provision and further support at every stage of their teaching career.Safeguarding teacher supply is a priority. The Department has funded recruitment and retention to attract applications to ITT and continually monitors provision levels to ensure that there are enough ITT places to meet teacher recruitment targets. This involves working with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure there are sufficient ITT places across the country from the 2024/25 academic year.

English Language: Education

Seema Malhotra: To the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made to the potential merits of publishing an ESOL Strategy for England.

Robert Halfon: The department is aware that language skills are crucial to help people integrate into life in England, as well as to break down barriers to work and career progression. This is why we want to support all adults in England to secure the English language skills that they need.The department funds English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision through the Adult Education Budget (AEB). Currently, approximately 60% of the AEB is devolved to 9 Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Mayor of London, acting where appropriate through the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of AEB-funded adult education for their residents, including ESOL, and allocation of the AEB to providers. The Education and Skills Funding Agency is responsible for the remaining AEB in non-devolved areas, where colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their AEB to meet the needs of their communities.The department also continues to work closely across Government to meet emerging ESOL needs. For example, acting quickly to ensure all Ukrainian adults and their family members that are supported through the Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and Ukraine Extension Scheme are immediately eligible for further education funding for ages 19+ , including access to ESOL provision and exemption from the 3-year residency requirement, as per the current AEB funding rules.In addition, through the Qualifications Review the department is ensuring that the ESOL provision on offer continues to support adults to achieve their potential in life, study and work.

Pupils: Travellers

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the provision of training courses specifically on preventing discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families to teaching staff; and whether her Department requires teachers to complete such training.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not hold data on specific training courses on preventing discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families.All teachers must satisfy the Teachers’ Standards throughout their careers. To be awarded Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), trainees must demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. Section 2 of the Teachers’ Standards is clear that teachers must treat all pupils with dignity, building relationships rooted in mutual respect and show tolerance and respect for the rights of others.Once teachers achieve QTS, they enter into two years of funded support through the Early Career Framework, which requires early career teachers to be trained and supported to develop their understanding of maintaining fair and inclusive school environments.Once a teacher is qualified, head teachers are responsible for ensuring their workforce has appropriate training to meet the needs of all pupils, which is in line with the Department’s position on school autonomy and head teachers being best placed to assess the needs of their pupils and workforce.

Free School Meals

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide free breakfasts for all children in school settings.

Nick Gibb: The Government is committed to continuing support for school breakfasts. In November 2022 the National School Breakfast Programme was extended for an additional year, until the end of the 2024 summer term. The Department is providing up to £30 million for this programme. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of pupils from low income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment and wellbeing. Schools are eligible for the programme if they have 40% or more pupils from disadvantaged households, as measured by the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index.

Ministry of Justice

Family Courts: Domestic Abuse

Taiwo Owatemi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment with his Cabinet colleagues of the health impact on survivors of domestic abuse of participating in the family court process.

Edward Argar: The Government recognises the impact family court proceedings can have on children and adult survivors of domestic abuse. In the Government’s Implementation Plan, published in response to the 2020 expert panel report ‘Assessing risk of harm to children and parents in private law children cases’, we made a number of commitments to improve the experiences of domestic abuse survivors in the family court. We have made good progress against those commitments. We have implemented a prohibition on cross-examination of domestic abuse survivors by their abusers, improved safety at court and provided automatic eligibility for special measures for victims of domestic abuse in the family courts. We have also launched the Integrated Domestic Abuse Court pilot in Dorset and North Wales to reduce the re-traumatisation of domestic abuse survivors and enhance the voice of the child in private law proceedings.

Prisoners' Release: Domestic Abuse

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to protect domestic abuse victims when the person who abused them has been released from prison.

Edward Argar: The Probation Service works with other agencies to manage the risks perpetrators pose on release from prison and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of victims, potential victims, and children.  For domestic abuse offenders convicted of relevant sexual or violent offences this will be under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Where the offender is released on licence, there may be specific conditions designed to protect victims from unwanted contact with offenders. HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) updated its Domestic Abuse Policy Framework in September 2022. (Domestic abuse policy framework - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). It sets out the expectations for managing domestic abuse cases clearly and comprehensively. When parliamentary time allows, we will legislate so that those convicted of controlling or coercive behaviour (CCB) with a sentence of twelve months or more imprisonment or a suspended sentence will be automatically subject to MAPPA. This will place a duty on the Police, the Probation Service and a range of other agencies to share information and work together to manage the risks the individual poses. In the meantime, we will start work now on an operating model for HMPPS and the Police to use the ViSOR public protection database to share information on CCB offenders while they are subject to supervision. A project later this year will test the effectiveness of electronic monitoring with domestic abuse offenders on licence, including testing how it can protect existing and potential victims of domestic abuse offences. In July 2021, we commenced a three year pilot of polygraph testing with high-risk domestic perpetrators released from prison on licence. If the pilot is successful in strengthening how we risk manage domestic abuse perpetrators, we will roll this out across England and Wales.

Hunting Act 2004: Prosecutions

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions have been made under the Hunting Act 2004 in each year since 2010,

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions have been made under Section 30 of the Game Act 1831 in each year since 2010.

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) charges and (b) prosecutions have been made under the Deer Act 1991 in each year since 2010.

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) charges and (b) prosecutions have been made under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: For prosecutions under the Hunting Act 2004, please see response to PQ 105521. The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of defendants prosecuted for offences under Section 30 of the Game Act 1831 between 2010 and 2021 across the following data tools:2010-2016: Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2020.2017-2021: Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2021. Please note, ‘119 Day Poaching’ includes offences under both section 30 and section 31 of the Game Act 1831. However, no prosecutions were made under section 31 offences during this time period. The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of defendants prosecuted for offences under the Deer Act 1991 and under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 between 2013 and 2021 across the following data tools:2013-2016: Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool.2017-2021: Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2021.The number of prosecutions for offences under the Deer Act 1991 between 2010 and 2012 has been provided in Table 1 and 2. The Home Office does not collect data on the number of charges for this offence.Table 1 and 2 (xlsx, 22.9KB)

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Russia: Sanctions

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the number of countries who have not imposed sanctions on Russia on the UK's sanctions regime; and whether he has had recent discussions with his counterparts in countries that have not imposed sanctions on Russia on that issue.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Sanctions are imposing significant costs on the Russian economy. Its budget is in deficit and is expected to remain so until 2025. Russia's imports of sanctioned goods are down by almost 50 percent and have declined from both sanctioning countries and countries who have not imposed sanctions on Russia.The UK also continues to engage the international community on sanctions, explaining the measures we have introduced, building support for our approach countering Russian disinformation. As set out in the G7 statement published on 24 February we will work with our G7 partners to take action against third country actors materially supporting Russia's illegal war.

Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held discussions with his US counterpart on the potential merits of imposing (a) sanctions and (b) other non-sanction measures against Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise to help prevent potential access to that company's gas revenue by the Myanmar military.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: We will continue to work closely with international partners, including the US, EU, Canada and Australia, to take robust action to reduce the military's access to revenue, arms, and equipment. The UK is committed to targeted sanctions, which directly impact the military without harming the wider population. This will be a key consideration for any future designations. It would be inappropriate to speculate on future targets by either ourselves or our partners.

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has taken steps to support the approval of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention as an implementing entity of the World Bank Pandemic Fund.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Pandemic Fund is yet to agree the accreditation framework for new Implementing Entities. The UK is a strong supporter of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including as it transitions to becoming an autonomous continental institution of the African Union (AU). UK support has comprised of technical and financial assistance, including a £20 million contribution to the AU's Covid-19 response fund.

Syria and Turkey: Earthquakes

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what long-term plans his Department has to provide (a) financial aid and (b) rescue equipment to regions affected by the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is a committed humanitarian donor globally and responded quickly to the devastating earthquakes to provide life-saving support to the people of Turkey and Syria. As we move out of the emergency response phase, the UK will continue to stand in solidarity with Turkey and to look at what more we can do to support the longer term recovery effort. For the people of Syria, the additional support the UK is providing will supplement our existing support. Since 2012, the UK has provided over £3.8 billion to the regional Syria Crisis, our largest response to a single humanitarian crisis. Our response to the earthquake in Syria will continue to focus on providing urgent life-saving and life-sustaining assistance to those in need.

Africa: Trade Agreements

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is providing support to the African Continental Free Trade Area; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has a programme of support for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and its Member States. The programme is in its first year of implementation, providing trade policy and trade facilitation support for negotiations and implementation through TradeMark Africa, ODI and other regional partners. Our assistance has supported the completion of the investment negotiations; developing plans to improve freight flows along the Lagos-Abidjan corridor, with upgrades starting at the Ghana-Togo border and is advising Ghana and Nigeria on manufacturing value chain development and positioning the private sector to grasp AfCFTA's new trading opportunities.

Ethiopia: Human Rights

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to support (a) the renewal of the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia and (b) increased co-operation between that body and the Government of Ethiopia.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We co-sponsored the EU-led resolution in 2021 creating the mandate for the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) and did so again in extending the Commission's mandate in October 2022. We continue to support the ICHREE and urge all parties to cooperate with both the Commission and with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights more broadly to address the human rights violations and abuses that took place during the conflict and to uphold and support the implementation of the Pretoria Peace Agreement.

UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, whether products sold into cash and carry settings will be eligible for the green lane.

Leo Docherty: Yes. The green lane is open to all UK businesses moving goods that are not destined for the EU or subject to commercial processing criteria.For goods that cannot access the green lane, for example if businesses cannot be certain of the end destination of their goods, traders will have access to a new comprehensive tariff reimbursement scheme when they can show that those goods did not ultimately enter the EU. This will supplement the existing customs duty waiver scheme available to all businesses.

Afghanistan: Education

David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the education of Afghan women and girls.

Leo Docherty: The Government has repeatedly condemned the Taliban's decisions to restrict women and girls' access to education, including through UN Security Council and Human Rights Council resolutions and public statements, most recently on 13 January 2023. The Government continues to support the delivery of education, including through bilateral and multilateral contributions to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), UN partners, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Education Cannot Wait, and the Global Partnership for Education.

Asia-Pacific Region

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the European Union (b) other European partners on China and the Asia-Pacific region.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Foreign Secretary speaks regularly to EU Foreign Ministers to discuss our positions on China and the Indo-Pacific. On China, engagement with partners is key to managing sharpening competition while improving our resilience. On the Indo-Pacific, the UK will work with partners to deepen engagement with regional partners, promoting shared prosperity, regional stability, and international rules and norms. The UK shares the view of key partners that Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific economies and security are inextricably linked.The UK continues to engage with the EU and EU member states on China and the Indo-Pacific through the G7, having worked closely with Germany' through their 2022 Presidency and Japan through their 2023 Presidency.The Foreign Secretary speaks regularly with the German Foreign Minister, including in January at our inaugural UK-Germany Foreign Ministers' Strategic Dialogue. He also spoke to the French Foreign Minister in November 2022, where he discussed our increased collaboration in the Indo-Pacific. The Foreign Secretary looks forward to the UK-France Summit on 10 March, where he will discuss UK-France collaboration in the region.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Aviation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport,  if she will publish the (a) number and (b) destinations of all domestic flights taken by officials in her Department in each of the last 5 years.

Julia Lopez: Between January and December of 2018 there were 370 domestic flights taken by officials within the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the destinations of these flights are as follows; Aberdeen, Belfast City, Belfast International, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Dundee, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Isle Of Man, Jersey, Leeds Bradford, Liverpool, London City, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle, Newquay, Shetland Isle and Southampton.Between January and December of 2019 there were 496 domestic flights taken by officials within the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the destinations of these flights are as follows; Aberdeen, Belfast City, Belfast International, Birmingham, Cardiff, Dundee, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Inverness, Isle Of Man, Jersey, Kirkwall, Leeds Bradford, Liverpool, London City, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Luton, London Stansted, Derry, Manchester, Newcastle, Shetland Isles and Southampton.Between January and December of 2020 there were 52 domestic flights taken by officials within the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the destinations of these flights are as follows; Belfast City, Belfast International, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Jersey, Kirkwall, London City, London Heathrow and Newcastle.Between January and December of 2021 there were 92 domestic flights taken by officials within the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the destinations of these flights are as follows; Belfast City, Belfast International, Edinburgh, Glasgow International, Liverpool, London City, London Gatwick, London Heathrow and London Luton.Between January and December of 2022 there were 272 domestic flights taken by officials within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the destinations of these flights are as follows; Aberdeen Dyce, Belfast City, Belfast International, Dundee, Durham Tees Valley, Edinburgh, Glasgow International, Inverness, London City, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Luton, London Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle, Stornoway and Sumburgh.Between January and February of 2023 there were 96 domestic flights taken by officials within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the destinations of these flights are as follows; Belfast City, Belfast International, Derry, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow International, London City, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Luton, London Stansted and Manchester.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Minimum Wage

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has contracted work to a business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme in the last 3 years.

Julia Lopez: The Department has contracted work to a business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme in the last 3 years. The Supplier has been engaged to provide recruitment services and supply contingent labour, through a regulated government Framework procured centrally for all government departments to use as needed. Through this Framework, the Supplier is governed by terms and conditions, overseen by the Framework Manager, and has agreed to the Framework rate card for the delivery of services.Details of all government contracts, above £10,000 for the core Department and above £25,000 for the wider public sector, are published to Contracts Finder as part of the Department’s commitment to transparency.

VisitBritain: China

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many VisitBritain staff are based in China.

Julia Lopez: There are nine VisitBritain staff based in China. They are located in the British Embassy in Beijing and the British Consulate-General’s office in Shanghai.

Internet: Advertising

Dame Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help (a) support the online advertising industry and (b) hold discussions with that industry on designing outcomes for the Online Advertising Programme further to the formal consultation that has already taken place.

Julia Lopez: My Department is committed to supporting a thriving advertising industry and works closely with its representatives to ensure the new reforms planned through the Online Advertising Programme (OAP) are proportionate and coherent.The OAP is designed to ensure a level playing field for businesses by introducing regulation for the most concerning online advertising harms in order to keep UK internet users safe. Increasing transparency and accountability whilst preserving the current system where it is working will help us drive innovation and sustainable growth in the online advertising market.Regarding the consultation on the OAP, we continue to engage closely with industry including recent ministerial roundtables with key industry stakeholders to discuss progress. We have also secured a delay to the High Fat, Salt or Sugar restrictions until 9 December 2023, to support the advertising industry further and ensure they are sufficiently prepared ahead of implementation.We will publish a Government response to the OAP consultation in due course, and will continue to engage the industry on the outcomes of the consultation following publication.

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Aviation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the (a) number and (b) destinations of all domestic flights taken by officials in his Department in each of the last 5 years.

Mims Davies: The following table shows the number of commercial flights taken by Departmental officials in each of the last five years, along with the destinations. The number of flights relate to the whole trip and in some cases covers several stages. Staff are only permitted to fly when this is deemed the most efficient and cost effective method of travel. Destination201820192020202120222023Grand TotalAberdeen602123232111Anglesey17121   30Belfast City19416657 4611474Belfast International Airport17719640 324449Benbecula516Birmingham2252555010392581Bristol1121362714811335Campbeltown371   11Cardiff58395 91112City of Derry Airport  1 6 7Dundee34   18Durham Tees Valley Airport   3  3East Midlands2071   28Edinburgh2752027618735649Exeter27345 8 74Glasgow4705599813181311352Inverness1441504028688438Isles Of Scilly33841Kirkwall5049135212140Leeds Bradford1110  2 23Liverpool426London City24823636235911613London Gatwick286185266564563London Heathrow9414145114914354London Luton1316517 42London Southend4812London Stansted604362103124Londonderry91726Manchester1681665333612438Newcastle25823543125513616Newquay2817  2 47Norwich2153   20Shetland Isles532477Southampton11610185123245Stornoway94111175111239Sumburgh Airport 11149328Tiree1 1Grand Total332231746911528421428323

Carer's Allowance

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department issues to its staff on the (a) suspension and (b) closure of a claim for carer's allowance when eligibility has ceased.

Tom Pursglove: We hold and maintain step-by-step operational instructions published on the DWP intranet for the Carer’s Allowance Unit operational staff to follow when suspending or closing Carer's Allowance claims when eligibility has ceased.

Access to Work Programme

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce delays affecting Access to Work applications and claims.

Tom Pursglove: Access to Work has had a significant increase in applications over the last year. New staff have been recruited and we are also doing more recruitment in the next 3 months. This will support the increased demand and reduce the time it takes to make decisions. Customers making new applications, where they are starting work within the next 4 weeks, or have a grant coming to an end that requires renewal, are prioritised to ensure customers are able to enter and remain in the labour market. We are also transforming the Access to Work service through increased digitalisation. This will make the service more efficient, the application process easier and improve the time taken from application through to decision.

Social Security Benefits

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason his Department is closing applications for waiving Recoverable Hardship Payment repayments between 1 January 2014 and 11 January 2021 on 19 June 2023.

Guy Opperman: It is necessary to set an end date for a LEAP exercise. The Department considered 6-months as an appropriate period of time for individuals to make an application.

Social Security Benefits

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department are taking steps to review internally decisions on waiving hardship payments.

Guy Opperman: The Department is not reviewing decisions on hardship payments. From January 2021 the Department implemented an affordability assessment process to which allows us to review decisions on imposing hardship repayments. Outcomes from this process may result in a sustainable repayment plan or in some exceptional cases we may waive the debt.

Social Security Benefits

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the scheme for waiving recoverable hardship payment repayments only applies to payments made in the period between 1 January 2014 and 11 January 2021.

Guy Opperman: The Department’s records backdate to 1 January 2014 and the new process was introduced from 11 January 2021. From 11 January 2021, claimants had the opportunity to review their hardship repayments.

Flexible Support Fund

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the correspondence from the Minister for Employment to the Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee relating to the Flexible Support Fund, dated 30 December 2021, if he will provide details of the Flexible Support Fund expenditure by category in each of the last five financial years.

Guy Opperman: The information has been published to the Work & Pensions Select Committee for 2018/19 to 2021/22; 21/22 FSF Report20/21 FSF Report19/20 FSF Report18/19 FSF Report Information for the 2017/18 financial year by category £’000;  CategoryTotalPartnerships7,000Removing Barriers12,943Training14,817Other2,185Total36,945 Source: HyperionFigures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.The data provided in the above table forms part of the expenditure position reported within the DWP Annual Report & Accounts 2017/18.

Flexible Support Fund

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the correspondence from the Minister for Employment to the Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee relating to the Flexible Support Fund, dated 30 December 2021, if he will provide details of the Flexible Support Fund expenditure in each region in each of the last five financial years.

Guy Opperman: The information has been published to the Work & Pensions Select Committee for 2018/19 to 2021/22; 21/22 FSF Report20/21 FSF Report19/20 FSF Report18/19 FSF Report Information for the 2017/18 financial year by region £’000;  RegionTotalSouth11,668Scotland3,661Central & Wales8,354North13,696Other(434)Total36,945 Source: HyperionFigures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.Negative value () relates to accounting adjustments between Regions.The data provided in the above table forms part of the expenditure position reported within the DWP Annual Report & Accounts 2017/18

Pensions: Telephone Services

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2023 to Question 147384 on Pensions: Telephone Services, what the average time is that callers were put on hold before being connected to the Future Pension Centre as of 23 February 2023; and what percentage of callers abandoned the call.

Laura Trott: We do not hold data as of 23rd February.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Pesticides: Pollinators

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the use of pesticides on (a) bees and (b) other pollinators in areas where pesticides were licensed to be used in 2022.

Mark Spencer: Before any pesticide is authorised for use in GB, it is subject to strict and science-based risk assessment carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Environmental risks, including risks to bees, are part of that assessment. Authorisations are subject to periodic review to ensure that they continue to meet modern safety standards.Defra funds research projects examining the impacts of pesticide use on honeybees and the environment. As part of the National Honey Monitoring Scheme, we fund the analysis of honey samples aimed at assessing levels of pesticides in honey across England. This provides an estimated level of honeybee exposure to pesticides. Defra also contributes funding to the Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (POMS) which tracks changes in pollinator numbers across the UK. Additionally, the Pesticide Usage Survey allows us to track how pesticides are being used and how this changes over time.

Badgers: Disease Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department’s policy is on the culling of badgers; and whether she plans to take steps to prevent badger culls.

Mark Spencer: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham, Daniel Kawczynski, on 3 October 2022, PQ UIN51544. [https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-09-20/51544]

Genetically Modified Organisms: Crops

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Windsor Framework will allow gene editing of crops to take place in Northern Ireland.

Mark Spencer: The Windsor Framework secures an outcome that works for GB businesses moving a range of agri-food to Northern Ireland and NI producers who wish to access the UK and EU markets. Northern Irish producers and manufacturers have been clear that they value access to the UK and EU markets and many operate on an integrated island of Ireland basis, such as the agricultural sector. We have listened to industry and protected their vital supply chains that also rely on North-South trade.Any research trials involving gene editing of crops or cultivation of gene edited crops in Northern Ireland will continue to be regulated under the Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (as amended), and by the GMO (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Aviation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,  if she will publish the (a) number and (b) destinations of all domestic flights taken by officials in her Department in each of the last 5 years.

Mark Spencer: All departmental travel is undertaken using efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements. Domestic flights within the UK allow departmental representatives to visit more parts of the UK in the time available and reduce the need for overnight accommodation. Defra staff are based all over the UK and not just centred on London. Defra’s Travel and Subsistence Policy states that air travel between locations on mainland England, Wales and Scotland is not permitted unless approval by exception is granted by a director and approval email should be attached to the claim. Many of the destinations listed in the answer involve a flight over water. The alternative journey of using trains and ferries would often take significantly longer. The following table sets out the number of domestic flights in each of the last five years along with the corresponding destinations.  Year20182019202020212022Number of Domestic Flights4654978294315DestinationsAberdeenAberdeenAberdeenAberdeenAberdeenBelfast CityBelfast CityBelfast CityBelfast CityBelfast CityBelfast IntlBelfast IntlBelfast IntlBelfast IntlBelfast IntlBirminghamBirminghamBirminghamBristolBirminghamBristolBristolBristolDundeeBristolEdinburghCardiffEdinburghEdinburghDundeeExeterEast MidlandsExeterGlasgowEdinburghGlasgowEdinburghGlasgowGuernseyExeterGuernseyExeterInvernessIsles Of ScillyGlasgowInvernessGlasgowLondonJerseyGuernseyIsle Of ManInvernessLondon CityLeeds BradfordInvernessJerseyIsle Of ManLondon GatwickLondon CityJerseyLondon CityJerseyLondon HeathrowLondon GatwickLeeds BradfordLondon GatwickLeeds BradfordLondon StanstedLondon HeathrowLiverpoolLondon HeathrowLiverpoolManchesterLondon LutonLondonLondon LutonLondon London StanstedLondon CityLondon StanstedLondon City NewcastleLondon GatwickManchesterLondon Gatwick SouthamptonLondon HeathrowNewcastleLondon Heathrow  London LutonShetland IslesLondon Luton  London StanstedSouthamptonLondon Stansted  Manchester Londonderry  Newcastle Manchester  Newquay Newcastle  Shetland Isles Newquay  Southampton NorwichShetland Isles

Food Supply

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has held with relevant stakeholders on reducing supply vulnerabilities of (a) tomatoes, (b) peppers, (c) cucumbers and (d) coffee.

Mark Spencer: We remain in close contact with suppliers, who are clear that current issues relating to the availability of certain fruits and vegetables are predominately caused by poor weather in Spain and North Africa where they are produced. These issues have been caused by unseasonal weather hampering production and harvest during December and January.We are not aware of any supply vulnerability relating to coffeeWhile short term supplies of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers might be tight, overall, the supply chain is robust, and we are keeping the market under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group.The capability, levers, and expertise to respond to disruption lie with industry. Government's role is to support and enable an industry-led response. UK Food Security remains resilient, and we continue to expect industry to be able to mitigate supply problems through alternative sourcing options.  The Government has taken steps to support energy costs, cut tariffs to reduce feed costs, improved avian influenza compensation schemes and taken a range of measures on fertilisers.We work with industry bodies across the horticulture sectors, to monitor and assess the current market situation. We also work with colleagues in the Devolved Administrations at the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group (UK AMMG).I held an industry roundtable with supermarkets on Monday 27 February to explore their plans for a return to normal supplies and contingencies for dealing with these supply chain problems.Recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK food security report was published in December 2021.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the badger vaccination programme; and whether her Department plans to continue the Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme beyond February 2023.

Mark Spencer: Defra monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of the bTB eradication strategy in England through a range of methods, including the publication of national and regional bTB statistics, compilation of epidemiology reports, the use of mathematical models, economic cost-benefit and regulatory impact assessments of new policies, value-for-money analyses of existing policies and user surveys. Until recently, vaccination was only carried out in small disparate areas, making it difficult to monitor the effect of badger vaccination on cattle incidence. We are working on a herd-level analysis which will help assess the effectiveness of badger vaccination on herd incidence levels. However, we are confident that badger vaccination will reduce the incidence of TB in cattle as we accept that badgers cause a proportion of breakdowns and vaccination has been shown to reduce disease in badgers. Therefore, badger vaccination should reduce TB incidence in cattle. The Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme (BEVS2) provides funding towards the cost of vaccinating badgers in the Edge Area of England. We are currently exploring the potential to extend the grant for an additional year until February 2024, for partners that have demonstrated clear progress towards the continued vaccination of badgers. We will continue to work with partners on potential ways of deploying widespread cost-effective vaccination schemes across England.

Slaughterhouses: Export Controls

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to reinstate China export licences to (a) Cranswick abattoir in Norfolk and (b) Pilgrim’s UK abattoir in Ashton.

Mark Spencer: The decision to reinstate the export licences for these abattoirs remains entirely with China. The UK, working with the British Embassy in Beijing, continues to press China at all levels to reinstate the export licences.

Food Poverty

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to assess the causes of food poverty.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she and her Department has taken to tackle food poverty.

Mark Spencer: We recognise the impact of rising food prices, which are occurring as a result of global shocks, including the spike in oil and gas prices and the conflict in Ukraine. We are keeping the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors all key agricultural commodities.January 2023 food price inflation was 16.8%, a slight decrease compared to December 2022 where it was 16.9%. This is the first fall in food price inflation recorded in 18 months. Monthly food price inflation was at 0.6% in January 2023, down from 1.6% between November 2022 and December 2022.Defra analysis, based on ONS data, shows that every one percent increase in food price inflation increases the average annual United Kingdom household food bill by £34. Defra analysis, based on the 2020 1ONS Family Spending survey, highlights that 11% of the total expenditure of the average United Kingdom household is on food. This varies from 14% for lowest income households to 8% for highest income households.  The Government is committed to reducing poverty, of which food poverty is one element, and supporting low-income families. We will spend over £242bn through the welfare system in 2022/23 including £108bn on people of working age. We also recognise the importance of understanding who is experiencing food poverty. That is why we introduced a set of questions into the Family Resources Survey (FRS) to measure and track foodbank usage from April 2021. The first results of these questions are due to be published in March 2023 subject to usual quality assurance.DEFRA has also increased our engagement with industry to supplement our analysis with real time intelligence. Defra will continue to work with food retailers and producers to explore the range of measures they can take to ensure the availability of affordable food. For example, by maintaining value ranges, price matching and price freezing measures.

Charitable Donations: Plastic Bags

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to help ensure that charity collection bags posted through letterboxes are biodegradable.

Rebecca Pow: In April 2021 we published our response to the call for evidence on the need for standards for bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics. The Government has no plans to make charity collection bags biodegradable. Government measures focus on extracting maximum value from plastic materials by making sure we keep it in circulation for longer, moving away from a take, make, throw model and shifting towards a circular economy. The Government wants to see the recycling of plastic film (including bread bags and plastic carrier bags) increased and plastic films will be included in the plastic recyclable waste stream required to be collected by local authorities from every household in England by March 2027.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Tyre Recovery Association

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times her Department has met with the Tyre Recovery Association in the last year.

Rebecca Pow: My officials have met with the Tyre Recovery Association once in the last year.

Tyres: Waste Disposal

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to rescind the T8 exemptions on the mechanical treatment of end-of-life tyres as part of her upcoming reforms of waste handling regulations.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the removal of T8 exemptions on the mechanical treatment of end-of-life tyres by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of tyre recycling companies were using the T8 exemptions on mechanical treatment of end-of-life tyres in (a) the latest period for which data is available and (b) 2018.

Rebecca Pow: The Government published its plans to reform the waste exemptions regime on 6 February and legislation will be laid before Parliament to implement the changes. The T8 exemption will be removed from the waste exemptions regime due to the negative impacts of illegal activity on legitimate businesses and associated risk to the environment and human health. No assessment has been made of the implications for our policies of the removal of T8 exemptions on the mechanical treatment of end-of-life tyres by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency removed the T8 exemption in Scotland in 2016. Our plans for the reform of the waste exemptions regime detail that the T8 exemption will now also be removed in England and Wales. The 2018 consultation on proposals to tackle crime and poor performance in the waste sector stated that there were 1,404 T8 exemptions registered in England and Wales. As of September 2022 there were 1,149 T8 exemptions registered in England. We do not hold information on what proportion of recycling companies hold a T8 exemption.

Tyres: Pyrolysis and Recycling

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of (a) tyre recycling technologies and (b) pyrolysis.

Rebecca Pow: No assessment has been made of the effectiveness of tyre recycling technologies, including pyrolysis.

Flood Control: Housing

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of properties which would benefit from greater investment in upper catchment measures which tackle flooding.

Rebecca Pow: At a national level the Environment Agency (EA) is undertaking an assessment, as part of the Long-term Investment Scenarios, to show what future flood and coastal erosion risk management could look like over the next 50 years in England. The results will be published in 2025. At a project level the EA assesses the range of interventions that could better protect properties, including upper catchment measures. There are around 140 projects currently in the flood and coastal defence programme that have natural flood management elements some of which relate to the upper catchment. This is in addition to the 60 pilot projects supported by the £15 million Natural Flood Management programme between 2017 and 2021. The EA estimates that this programme slowed and stored water upstream of 15,000 homes in areas at risk of flooding, equivalent to 1.6 million cubic metres of water storage.

Air Pollution: South West

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on improving air quality in South West in each of the last five years.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on improving air quality in the Bristol and Somerset area in each of the last five years.

Rebecca Pow: A wide and diverse range of complex policies affect air quality. Additionally, owing to the transboundary nature of air pollution, government is taking action not just locally, but also nationally and internationally. Due to this complexity, government does not consider it proportionate or beneficial to disaggregate total air quality spending at a regional level.

Home Office

Asylum: Applications

Seema Malhotra: To the Secretary of State for the Home Office, if she will publish a copy of her Department's questionnaire to be completed by refugees from (a) Afghanistan, (b) Eritrea, (c) Libya, (d) Syria and (e) Yemen as an alternative to being interviewed.

Robert Jenrick: There are no plans to publish the questionnaire at this time; instead, it will be sent to eligible claimants from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya Syria and Yemen

Undocumented Migrants: English Channel

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2023 to Question 146875 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the proposed legislation will be compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights; and if she will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: Further detail regarding the new legislation to tackle small boats will be set out in due course. As required by section 19 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (statements of compatibility), my Rt Hon friend the Home Secretary will make a statement under that section on introduction of the new Bill.

UK Border Force: Patrol Craft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2023 to Question 150409 on UK Border Force: Patrol Craft, how much her Department has (a) allocated to and (b) spent on plans to procure a replacement (a) Cutter and (b) Coastal Patrol Vessel maritime capability for Border Force.

Robert Jenrick: The budget on 27 October 2021 announced funding of £74m over the Spending Review period, within an estimated total capital spend of around £224m, covering both Cutter and Coastal Patrol Vessel replacement. The full cost of the programme, including beyond the Spending Review period, will be refined once supplier engagement has taken place.

Immigration: Step-families

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the legal immigration status of a British citizen's non-adopted step child who is under 18 and not a British citizen is.

Robert Jenrick: The entry to, and eventual settlement in, the United Kingdom of non-British family members of British citizens is governed by the family Immigration Rules. Individuals must apply in the appropriate capacity according to their circumstances and the reason they wish to come to or remain in the UK.Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules provides routes for those wishing to apply to live with their spouse or partner, fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner, child, parent or relative who’ll provide long-term care for them. Part 8 of the Immigration Rules provides for a child to join a British or settled parent or relative in the UK where the child could not be adequately cared for by their other parent or relatives in their own country.All information on immigration can be found under the Immigration Rules Appendix FM - Immigration Rules - Immigration Rules Appendix FM: family members - Guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Radicalism

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the findings on far-right extremism in Hope Not Hate's report entitled State of Hate 2023; and if she will make a statement.

Tom Tugendhat: The Government is committed to tackling those who spread views that promote violence and hatred against individuals and communities in our society, and that radicalise others into terrorism.The important role of the Commission for Countering Extremism continues. The Home Secretary appointed Robin Simcox as Commissioner for the Commission for Countering Extremism in July 2022 for a three-year term to ensure vital continuity in the work of the Commission.We continue to work with law enforcement agencies to deliver against the national intelligence picture and increase understanding of new and emerging radicalising threats to society.The Government’s assessment of the threat from terrorism is under continual review. This includes the national threat level, which is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre and the Security Service. The current level is substantial, which means an attack is likely. It covers all forms of terrorism, including extreme right-wing terrorism, and is based on a wide range of information. This also includes our threat agnostic counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST. In October 2022, we announced that CONTEST being updated to protect the public from new and emerging threats to our way of life.Hope Not Hate’s State of Hate 2023 report is welcome, and will be considered alongside other evidence as part of the Government’s ongoing review process. We do not believe a Ministerial Statement is required at this time.

Tony Cox

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to meet Tony Cox, a constituent of the hon. Member for Exeter.

Suella Braverman: I have written to Mr Cox providing an update on the response to concerns raised by him and the Hon. Member following the tragic death of his daughter Lorraine. I express my sympathies with Mr Cox, however, it would be inappropriate to meet him until after the conclusion of ongoing matters concerning Devon & Cornwall Police.

Crime: Rural Areas

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of rural crime in 2022.

Chris Philp: This Government is committed to driving down rural crime. Our manifesto committed us to use police resources to tackle rural crime, and as at 31 December 2022, 16,753 additional uplift officers have been recruited in England and Wales through the Police Uplift Programme. We are on target to recruit 20,000 additional officers by March 2023, taking us for the first time to over 148,000 officers across England and Wales. This is unprecedented and reflects the biggest recruitment drive in decades, and will help ensure the public is better protected, including in rural communities.We are also taking steps to address issues that we know affect rural communities. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act empowers and equips the police and courts with the powers they need to combat hare coursing, and the Government is supporting the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill, which aims to prevent the theft of quad bikes and All-Terrain Vehicles. The Government is also providing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit.The National Farmers Union (NFU) estimates that in 2021 rural theft cost the UK £40.5m, based on their insurance claim statistics.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Homes for Ukraine Scheme

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the operation of the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, known as Homes for Ukraine.

Felicity Buchan: The department is proud of the Homes for Ukraine scheme which has seen 116,400 Ukrainians welcomed to safety in the UK since it was launched, and a total of 153,900 visas issued. We have delivered this working in partnership with councils, the devolved administrations and other government departments including the Home Office who are responsible for issuing the visas. Figures given are correct as of 28th February 2023.We continue to keep the scheme under constant review, and will set out any updates in the usual way.

Regional Planning and Development: Local Government Finance

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2023 to Question 150593 on Regional Planning and Development: Local Government Finance, what (a) capability and (b) capacity funding his Department has provided local authorities in those funds.

Dehenna Davison: As we have set out previously, this department has provided capability and capacity funding to local authorities bidding across each of the funds mentioned.For the Levelling Up Fund, £125,000 in capacity funding was provided to all category 1 Local Authorities in England, and equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to help develop bids across the life of the Levelling Up Fund.For the Community Renewal Fund, £2 million was provided to the lead authorities of each of the 100 priority places ranging from £20,000 to £100,000 to help them coordinate and appraise bids.For the UKSPF, £20,000 was provided for each lead local authority and £40,000 for each Mayoral Combined Authority, the Greater London Authority and lead local authorities coordinating regional investment plans in Wales and Scotland. This funding supported initial preparatory work, including developing local investment plans.For Town Deals, £21.4 million in capacity funding was paid out to lead Local Authorities, and support was also available through the Towns Fund Delivery partner. Places shortlisted for Future High Streets Fund were each awarded up to £150,000 revenue funding (totalling £14.5 million across the programme) to support the development of final business cases.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Maggie Throup: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, by what date successful Local Authorities should expect to receive their full allocation of UK Shared Prosperity Funding.

Dehenna Davison: The vast majority of local authorities have received their Year 1 UKSPF allocation. DLUHC is working with the remaining local authorities to ensure any validation conditions have been met so that payments can be made as soon as possible. Future payments for local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales will be made near the beginning of the Financial Year on an annual basis.

Business Premises: Disability

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of building regulations that ensure commercial properties are accessible for those with disabilities.

Lee Rowley: Government has recently completed research on disabled people's experience which will be published in due course. While building control cannot require accessibility upgrades to existing commercial properties, the Equality Act 2010 includes a right for disabled people to complain and a duty for commercial property owners to anticipate making reasonable adjustments.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Ministerial Boxes

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the holding Answer of 20 February 2023 to Question 141390 on Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Ministerial Boxes, when he plans to provide a full Answer to that Question.

Dehenna Davison: I responded to the Rt Hon Member on 3 March 2023.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Ministerial Boxes

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much public money was spent by his Department in financial year 2021-22 on the procurement of ministerial red (a) boxes and (b) folders bearing the inscription Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Dehenna Davison: Purchasing and repairing red boxes and folders is a routine Government practice under successive administrations, including the last Labour Government, as part of the Government's Security Policy Framework. Our records show that in the 2021-2022 financial year, the department did not spend any money on red boxes or folders bearing the inscription Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Aviation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish the (a) number and (b) destinations of all domestic flights taken by officials in his Department in each of the last 5 years.

Dehenna Davison: Further to the answer to Question UIN 61752 on 21 November 2022, as part of the transparency agenda, DLUHC publishes quarterly data on senior officials travel. Details can be found here.

Housing: Construction

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to include in the (a) building regulations and (b) associated approved documents requirements for new build homes to (i) have smart meter installed and (ii) enable the use of a smart meter.

Lee Rowley: As part of the British Energy Security Strategy, the Government has committed to ensuring all new homes are designed so that smart meters can be fitted from the outset, in advance of the Future Homes and Building Standards by 2024.

Elections: Absent Voting

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what contingency arrangements his Department has put in place to ensure all postal votes are received and counted in the event of a postal strike immediately prior to the Council Elections on 4 May 2023.

Lee Rowley: The Government is in regular discussion with the Royal Mail to ensure planning is in place ahead of the May elections and will continue to monitor the position with regard to industrial action.

Buildings: Repairs and Maintenance

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, (a) how many and (b) which developers who signed the Building Safety Pledge have signed the developer remediation contract as of 28 February 2023.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 153893 on 2 March 2023.

Buildings: Insulation

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which external legal practitioners are advising the Government on the cladding pledge legally binding agreement and the Responsible Actors Scheme.

Lee Rowley: In line with the practice of successive administrations details of legal advice are not normally disclosed.

Buildings: Fire Prevention

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of UK builders or developers who are deemed financially responsible for remediating or mitigating fire safety-related defects on buildings in England.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of builders or developers who are deemed financially responsible for remediating or mitigating fire safety-related defects on buildings in England but which are not in scope of signing his Department's building safety remediation contract.

Lee Rowley: We are taking steps to make sure that all developers pay fair share and can be held to account if they fail to do so.On 30 January 2023, the Government published a developer remediation contract that will, once signed, commit major developers (including 49 developers that signed the developer remediation pledge) to pay for work to fix defects estimated to cost at least £2 billion. In Spring 2023, the Government will lay regulations to establish a Responsible Actors Scheme. Under those regulations, developers eligible for the Scheme will have to sign and comply with the terms of the developer remediation contract if they wish to join and remain in the Scheme. Any eligible developer that does not join and remain in the Scheme will be prohibited from commencing new major developments for which they have planning permission, and from securing building control sign-off for buildings already under construction.In addition, the Building Safety Act 2022 placed new responsibilities on all developers to pay to fix buildings they constructed, and gave third parties avenues to seek redress in cases where a developer shirks their responsibilities.

Park Homes: Complaints

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what means of redress are available to park home residents who have a complaint about the management of a park home site.

Rachel Maclean: If a site owner breaches any of their obligations set out in the resident’s written agreement, the resident can seek redress through the First Tier Tribunal.If a park home resident has concerns about the suitability of a site owner to manage a site, or the maintenance and safety of the site, they should contact the relevant local authority.Residents can get free independent advice about their rights from the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE).

Department for Business and Trade

Department for Business and Trade: Written Questions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when she plans to answer Question 141387, tabled on 7 February 2023 for answer on 20 February.

Nigel Huddleston: I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 28 February, UIN 141387.

Retail Trade: Carbon Emissions and Environmental Protection

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps the Government has taken to improve legislation on environmental and climate standards in British retailer and company supply chains.

Kevin Hollinrake: In April 2022 the UK became the first G20 country to introduce mandatory reporting in line with the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, for economically significant UK companies. Additionally, section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 requires directors to have regard to the impact of their company’s operations on the community and the environment, amongst other things. The Government strengthened this requirement in 2019 by requiring directors to make an annual statement explaining how they have discharged their section 172 duty in practice over the previous reporting year. The UK Government has introduced world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Act to help tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains. In 2021-22 we ran a consultation to seek views on how we should implement Environment Act provisions, including which commodities we should regulate through the first round of secondary legislation, and have since published a summary of responses, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tackling-illegal-deforestation-in-uk-supply-chains.

Help to Grow Schemes

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the cost to the public purse was of RSM UK Consulting's independent evaluation of the Help to Grow: Digital scheme.

Kevin Hollinrake: Details of the evaluation contract award, including the value, are available on the Government contracts finder portal. Up to date information on the cost of the Help to Grow: Digital scheme, including the evaluation, will be released in Spring 2023 after the scheme has fully closed.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Boiler Upgrade Scheme: Biofuels

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make] an estimate of the number of households that (a) have been issued Boiler Upgrade Scheme vouchers for biomass-related heating technology and (b) are not able to use those vouchers as a result of changes in the Product Eligibility List for that scheme.

Graham Stuart: Since the launch of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in May 2022 and up to the end of January 2023, a total of 132 biomass boiler vouchers have been issued to properties in England and Wales. Ofgem has made us aware that there are currently 4 live applications affected by changes to the product eligibility list. The Government is working closely with Ofgem to ensure a fair and proportionate decision is made regarding these cases.

Boiler Upgrade Scheme: Biofuels

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions he has had with Ofgem on its decision to remove certain domestic biomass-related heating technology systems from its Product Eligibility List for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme; and on what date he was informed of that decision.

Graham Stuart: Ofgem always keep the Product Eligibility List (PEL) under review. Where they have reason to, Ofgem may investigate certain products to gain greater assurance that they are eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Where this is the case, Ofgem sometimes remove products from the PEL until they have completed their investigation. The PEL is not a guarantee that specific products meet all requirements under the scheme. Installers should always consult the regulations, the standards published by Secretary of State, and the scheme guidance to understand whether specific products are eligible for funding.

Electricity Generation: Carbon Emissions

Simon Jupp: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of a zero-carbon electricity by 2030 target on (c) consumer bills, (b) energy security and (c) temporary interruptions in electricity supply.

Graham Stuart: It is the Government's ambition to achieve fully decarbonised electricity by 2035, subject to security of supply. The Government is focused on delivering the policies and programmes which support this goal, while maintaining a secure, reliable and low cost energy system.

Hospices: Energy

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what representation his Department has received from Hospice UK on the hospice sector's capacity to meet the cost of energy following the conclusion of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.

Amanda Solloway: The Department has received 3 ministerial correspondences from Hospice UK. The new Energy Bill Discount Scheme will run from April until March 2024, and continue to provide a discount to eligible non-domestic customers, including the hospice sector.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Aviation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will publish the (a) number and (b) destinations of all domestic flights taken by officials in his Department in each of the last 5 years.

Graham Stuart: The Department was established on 7 February 2023. As a result, there has been no decision yet on whether we will publish the (a) number and (b) destinations of all domestic flights taken by officials in this Department in each of the last 5 years

Energy Company Obligation

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the number of customers in the ECO+ general eligibility group who will make a monetary contribution to the installation in their home.

Graham Stuart: The ECO+ draft Impact Assessment assumes £80m in household contributions from the general group. A final impact assessment will be published alongside the Government’s response to the consultation in spring 2023.

Energy Company Obligation

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of their ECO4 cost assumptions in the context of rising inflation and market prices.

Graham Stuart: The modelling used to set the ECO4 targets was based on estimated costs in 2021 prices, with an allowance for general inflation over time. Given the context of much higher inflation than expected, our recent ECO+ consultation sought stakeholder views on our cost assumptions, and we will be summarising these views in our forthcoming Government Response. The Department also recently gathered evidence on the costs of installing loft insulation and cavity wall insulation from installers, which is being used to update our assumptions. We will assess the impact of our updated cost assumptions on ECO4 and take action, if necessary.

Hinkley Point C Power Station: China General Nuclear Power Corporation

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with EDF on  Hinkley Point C and (a) the cap limit for CGN, (b) whether CGN will provide further capital, (c) what additional capital EDF can provide and (d) other capital financing issues; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Bowie: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had discussions with EDF on the financing of Hinkley Point C. Financing of the project is a matter for EDF and its co-developer CGN. Any additional costs incurred during construction are the responsibility of EDF and its partners and will not fall on taxpayers and consumers.

Nuclear Power Stations: Costs

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of EDF's estimate that Hinkley Point C will cost £33 billion; and what recent estimate he has made of the cost of Sizewell C.

Andrew Bowie: The delivery of Hinkley Point C is a matter for EDF and its co-developer CGN. Any additional costs incurred during construction are the responsibility of EDF and its partners and will not fall on taxpayers and consumers. For Sizewell C, following the Government investment into the project in November 2022 to become a project shareholder, project development is ongoing with EDF and the project company. Details of these developments are commercially sensitive.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Disability

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps they have taken in their Department to operate the Disability Confident employer scheme for those seeking a lateral transfer; and how many and what proportion of candidates who declared themselves as having a disability and who applied under that scheme where (a) interviewed and (b) laterally transferred in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.

Graham Stuart: The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero was created following Machinery of Government changes announced on 7th February 2023, so we are not able to provide the requested data for 2021 and 2022. It is standard practice within the Civil Service to operate the Disability Confident Scheme for candidates and the department plans to continue this in future.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of the report by the Climate Change Committee entitled Sixth Carbon Budget, published on 9 December 2020, on the need for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) to capture 16 to 39 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050.

Graham Stuart: The CCC’s analysis suggests that power BECCS is a relatively cost-effective GGR technology, out to 2050, if deployed early. The Net Zero Strategy outlines an ambition for 5MtCO2/year of engineered removals by 2030 and power BECCS is likely to provide the majority of these removals. Power BECCS is expected to deliver a steady increase of engineered removals between the late 2020s and 2035. The Government is clear that the purpose of BECCS, and other GGRs is to balance the residual emissions from sectors that are unlikely to achieve full decarbonisation by 2050 and will not be substitutes for ambitious mitigation to achieve net zero.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress he has made on the Track 1 Power BECCS selection process; and he will make a statement.

Graham Stuart: The Government launched the power BECCS project submission process on 22nd August 2022. This was a technology specific submission process for power BECCS projects seeking to join Track-1. The Government will provide an update on the outcome of the power BECCS project submission process in due course. Deployment of power BECCS will be contingent on the availability of relevant Transport and Storage infrastructure and an assessment of affordability before any decision to award business model support.

Aviation: Carbon Emissions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the inclusion of international aviation in UK carbon budgets.

Graham Stuart: The Government will legislate for the inclusion of International Aviation and Shipping emissions in the Sixth Carbon Budget at the earliest opportunity, subject to Parliamentary scheduling.

Energy: Business

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the number of businesses that have entered new fixed period energy price agreements in the last six months.

Amanda Solloway: The Government does not currently hold data for all business energy contracts. Of those subject to Energy Bill Relief Scheme support, it is currently estimated is that up to 400,000 electricity contracts and 100,000 gas contracts were fixed since September 2022. This would not capture any contracts that may be fixed on an annual, or less frequent basis, and were done so prior to this point. The Government does not have information on the number of businesses these contracts equate to, as a single business can have multiple contracts and would also expect some businesses to have fixed both electricity and gas contracts.

Solar Power: Energy

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that members of the public who sell solar powered energy back to the state are reimbursed in a timely way.

Graham Stuart: Under the market-led Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), it is for suppliers to determine the frequency of payments they make to householders exporting excess electricity to the grid. Suppliers are required to have a process in place to deal with complaints relating to their SEG obligations.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Minimum Wage

Justin Madders: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has contracted work to a business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme in the last 3 years.

Alex Burghart: The information requested is not held centrally and cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost; however, the Cabinet Office expects all contractors to pay their employees the National Living Wage and minimum rates for younger workers.Paying the minimum wage is not optional, it is the law. Under the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme, employers who have previously broken minimum wage law are publicly named as a deterrent to the minority of employers who may be tempted to underpay their workers. Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage have to pay back arrears of wages to the worker at current minimum wage rates. They also face hefty financial penalties of up to 200% of arrears - capped at £20,000 per worker - which are paid to the government. Since 2015 the government has ordered employers to repay over £100 million to 1 million workers.Under this Conservative Government, the National Living Wage (NLW) will rise to £10.42 from 1 April 2023, an increase of 9.7 per cent, with rates for younger people rising in line with this.

Vaccination: Death

Esther McVey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Office for National Statistics publication entitled Deaths by vaccination status, England, published on 21 February 2023, for what reason data for under 18s was omitted from that publication; and when that data will be published.

Jeremy Quin: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 23 February is attached. UKSA Response to PQ 151283 (pdf, 100.3KB)

Cabinet Office: Aviation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) number and (b) destinations of all domestic flights taken by officials in his Department in each of the last 5 years.

Jeremy Quin: The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department. Comprehensive details of Senior Officials’ Business Expenses, encompassing domestic flights are available on GOV.UK.

Honours

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the FOI release Honours nominations probity and propriety checks completed by HM Revenue and Customs, updated on 27 October 2022, whether the probity checks to preserve the integrity of the honours system have been carried out on the persons nominated in the resignation honours list put forward by the former Prime Minister, the Rt hon. member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip; which Departments have been contacted to carry out probity checks on the people on that list; whether the probity checks undertaken include consideration of the avoidance of (a) a conflict of interest and (b) the perception of a conflict of interest in the conferring of an honour on a person who has made substantial donations to the political party of the Prime Minister who has nominated them; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Quin: Probity checks are carried out on all honours lists, including resignation honours lists. Checks are carried out with government departments including HMRC and relevant vetting and other professional bodies, as well as using open source information.In general, donations to any political party should not be regarded as a reason for disqualification from receiving an honour.It would be inappropriate to speculate about a possible list.

Treasury

EURATOM and Horizon Europe: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the surrender of unused funding for Horizon and Euratom association set out on page 295 of the Central Government Supply Estimates 2022-23, HC 1133, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of carrying over that funding under the Budget Exchange Scheme.

John Glen: At Spending Review 2021, the Government set aside funding for the cost of associating to EU R&D programmes as agreed in the December 2020 Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). To mitigate the impact of delays to the UK’s association, we introduced the Horizon Guarantee as well as £684m of additional support for the R&D, fusion and Earth observation sectors. As is usual practice, departmental underspends are returned to the Exchequer at Supplementary Estimates to ensure spending plans are taut and realistic. We welcome the Windsor Framework agreed by the UK and the EU on 27 February, which delivers for the people and businesses of Northern Ireland. We look forward to working constructively with the EU on a range of issues. We will now take stock of our future cooperation under the TCA and the financial implications of any such cooperation. If we are not able to associate, we will ensure that UK researchers receive at least as much funding as they would have received if the UK were associated to Horizon.

Advanced Research and Invention Agency: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Supplementary Estimates 2022-23 published by his Department on 21 February 2023, whether the unused funding for the Advanced Research and Invention Agency will be made available in the 2023-24 financial year.

John Glen: The unused funding for the Advanced Research and Invention Agency in 2022-23 will be made available to ARIA in the 2023-24 financial year.

Taxation: Apprentices and National Insurance Contributions

Sarah Olney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC treats the head office and subsidiary branches of all political parties and similar organisations as connected organisations for the purposes of applying the Employment Allowance and Apprenticeship Levy.

Victoria Atkins: HMRC cannot comment on the tax affairs of any of its customers, including political parties, due to taxpayer confidentiality. The rules governing whether HMRC treats entities as connected for the Employment Allowance and Apprenticeship Levy are set out in HMRC guidance. All entities that meet the criteria provided in the guidance will be treated as connected for Employment Allowance and Apprenticeship Levy purposes. HMRC work within the law to make sure everyone pays the right amount of tax and that they treat customers fairly, in line with the HMRC Customer Charter.

Northern Ireland Protocol: Trade

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse of the trader support scheme has been since it was established.

Victoria Atkins: I refer the hon Member to the answer given to PQ UIN 146816 on 22 February 2023.

Energy: Taxation

Craig Mackinlay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to convene a roundtable for independent oil companies operating in the North Sea on the potential impact of the Energy Profits Levy on investment in the UK.

James Cartlidge: The Energy Profits Levy (EPL) was introduced in May 2022 in response to sharp increases in oil and gas prices over the past year. At the Autumn Statement 2022, the Chancellor announced that the rate of the levy would rise by ten percentage points to 35% from 1 January 2023 and will last until 31 March 2028. The government has been clear it wants to see the oil and gas sector reinvest its profits to support the economy, jobs and the UK’s energy security. That is why the levy includes a new investment allowance, ensuring that for every £1 an oil and gas company spends, they can claim around 91p in tax relief for most types of investment expenditure. For every £100 an oil and gas company invests to decarbonise upstream oil and gas production, they will be able to deduct £109.25 when calculating their levy profits. This provides an immediate and significant fiscal incentive to reinvest profits in the UK. The government published a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) on the Energy Profits Levy changes announced at the Autumn Statement. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-energy-oil-and-gas-profits-levy/energy-oil-and-gas-profits-levy. The TIIN sets out that the levy is not expected to have a significant macroeconomic impact on the level of business investment. In December 2022, the Chancellor attended a roundtable with representatives from the oil and gas sector. The government has regular engagement with a range of stakeholders, including independent oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea, and I have also met with representatives of North Sea Oil and Gas.